Series preview: Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles
TV: Sportsnet Radio: Sportsnet 590 The FAN
PROBABLES
Monday, 7 p.m. RHP Sam Gaviglio (3.6, 4.94) vs. RHP David Hess (2-8, 5.50) Tuesday, 7 p.m. LHP Thomas Pannone (1-0, 1.59) vs. TBA Wednesday, 7 p.m. LHP Ryan Borucki (3-3, 4.12) vs. RHP Alex Cobb (4-15, 5.00)
KEY PLAYERS
Mullins/Morales Silver glitter inside the grey ashes of an Orioles season, rookie Cedric Mullins has assumed the mantle of leadership for a team circling the drain. The 23-year-old centrefielder wore “The Entertainer” on his back over the Players’ Weekend, and he has arrived very much as self-advertised, leading the club with a .309 average in 15 games (heading into Sunday night) since being summoned to The Show. Particularly jaw-dropping was the home-run-robbing catch he made on a Giancarlo Stanton tattoo ball on Saturday, leaping at the wall and pulling it back in … On the other side of the career ledger, 35-year-old Kendrys Morales, almost pitchforked out of Toronto in May, would tie a major-league record with a home run in an eighth straight game. That record is currently shared by Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly and Dale Long. NEED TO KNOW Every time you turn around, it feels like the O’s are there. If only. Balti- more has a 1-12 record against Toronto this season but 1-2 at home. The O’s were swept by the Jays just last week, part of an 0-9 losing funk that included both parts of a doubleheader with the Yankees on Saturday. They entered Sunday at 93 losses, with 32 games to go, and could very well surpass the modern-era record of 120 losses, set by the Mets in 1962 … Jays left-hander Thomas Pannone, among 11 moundsmen who’ve started for the Jays this season, will draw a second starting assignment after a seven-inning win over the Orioles last week at the Rogers Centre. “I think he’s earned that, a little bit,” said manager John Gibbons. “He’s in that rotation now.” He is with Marcus Stroman still on the DL with his ugly finger blister (which he insists on showing on social media) and with Jaime Garcia designated for assignment over the weekend.
ON DECK
Three games in Miami, starting Friday.